About Me

Hello, I am Catherine Schultz. I’m from Maryland. I am a recent graduate from Muskingum, majoring in digital media design. Now on to who I am.

I enjoy writing. I really, really wanted to participate in “Novel November,” where students are challenged to write 50,000 words by the end of November. I was able to eke out 5,259 of the 50,000 words required for the novel event and realized the depth of my passion for writing. Most of my friends raised their eyebrows and said: “are you crazy?”

 I explained I was not exactly crazy and was doing this while also doing my classwork. Although the time for the competition has ended, I am still working on “that story” and hope to get it to 50,000 words one day.

I am also an advocate for Decoding Dyslexia MD for dyslexia since I was 12, even helping with events and advocating for the statewide legislation that requires all Kindergarten students to be screened for reading difficulties and provided early interventions before they fall behind.  The Ready to Read Act passed in 2019, and my home state, Maryland, is in the process of implementing the law. 

I have a passion for illustration and creative writing, which drove my choice of major, classes, and electives. I worked at the Muskingum’s Alumni Office as a graphic designer and was working on a project postcard for “The Day of Giving.” 

My portfolio spans three years of work on illustrations, graphic designs, and other artwork under the guidance of teachers at Moore College and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.  I have also been writing and drawing creatively since I was in second grade (or nine years old)

“I started writing because the story I wanted to read wasn’t available,” I explained. I  realized that I had difficulty finding the vocabulary and background knowledge to draw on to build the world I wanted to give readers. This is where art comes in — it allows me to expand on my ideas and bring people into my life more. Learning that I could use illustration, design, and drawing to express myself and tell a story, at the same time, in tandem, to create a world that people might use to escape life, is something I’m after,” said I. “Creating a blog for my work and progress will help me reach my goals sooner.”

I joined the dyslexia advocacy group because I have dyslexia. Though I struggled to use my  accommodations because it seemed like cheating (oddly enough), I realize it’s similar to adding a wheelchair ramp to a building — if there’s a ramp, everyone can enter.”  Not using my accommodations was only cheating myself.

I thought, “if I just tough it out, I will be like everyone else; but this was a wrong assumption. 

My father recommended that I go on a trip with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), to help boost my confidence and to know it’s okay to rely on others for help.

The NOLS trip was through the Wind River Range in Wyoming. This was a 30-day trip which amounted to 101.10 miles of stressful walking. However, I was able to get some confidence through this experience — I’m not dead. I learned that girly girls pretty much avoid me and that I can hang with the boys.  a ton of life experience and have stories that could and perhaps will, fill future blogs since I want to write 50,000 words someday and oh, I love creative writing.

If I were to interview myself, here’s what I would say: “I learned a lot from the NOLS trip and truly wish I could do another one sometime in the future,” said I. “The whole adventure was amazing even though we realized that Mother Nature is scary.”

Nature can really shape a person, and I’ve been raised in more rural areas with not a lot of people or other kids around (with the exception of San Diego and Vienna, Virginia). My dad was in the military, and we moved around a lot. From Florida to California, to Maryland, to California, to Virginia, and back to Maryland again, my world is always moving. Not surprisingly, I chose an out-of-state college in Ohio because of my love of adventure and seeing new things. 

During my travels, I spent a lot of time in the car, which may explain part of my love for drawing — I had plenty of time to do it.   

My goal is to USE my passions and experiences to add value to the Alumni Office during my internship. Also, I hope to use my passions to get out of my parents’ basement, especially since they don’t have one.